Peru zoo unveils Mexico-born white lion cubs

LIMA: Two endangered white lion cubs born in captivity in Mexico were unveiled at a zoo in the Peruvian capital Lima Thursday.

The little big cats — one female aged four months and a five-month-old male — are on display at the city’s Huachipa Zoo, in central Lima, having completed a quarantine period.

“They’re in a good state. They arrived in Lima as an exchange for scientific and conservation purposes,” zoo spokeswoman Pilar Martinez told AFP.

The cubs — already said to be showing off their wild nature, despite their young age — weigh around 50 kilograms (110 pounds) and eat five kilograms of beef and chicken a day, according to caretaker Amadeo Hermosa.

The zoo received the lions in exchange for some Humboldt penguins, Martinez said, without saying how many.

Vet Celia Diaz explained the lions are not albino, but instead their unique coloring is due to a gene variant also found in white tigers.